California Ranks Third In US For Identity Theft Claims
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) – California ranks 3rd in the country for identity theft, with credit card fraud accounting for nearly half of all crimes in that category.
The Federal Trade Commission's Sentinel Network Data Book is a yearly report analyzing all consumer claims. It classifies the fraud into a number of categories, including debt collection, identity theft, prizes/sweepstakes/lotteries, and telephone/mobile services.
In California, debt collection (24%) led the list of most reported claims, followed by identity theft (20%), and imposter scams (11%).
What if your debit card is stolen? Things get a little trickier. If you notify your financial institution within 2 days then your liability is limited to $50. After that, your liability jumps to $500 until 60 days after your statement is mailed. Beyond that your liability isn't capped. However, most financial institutions treat debit cards like credit cards so they usually won't hold you to that liability.
Several programs administered by the federal government use payment cards issued by Comerica Bank. Call Kurtis has gotten a number of complaints that fraudsters are draining their accounts. So why can't they get their money back? Call Kurtis Investigates tonight At 10.